Disney College Program for Fall Advantage Cancelled

[Lilofan]

I will give you this, if you are honed into a specific career then the DCP might not be for you but most college students are not. However to think serving popcorn at a local movie theater is the same to serving popcorn at Epcot to a hiring manger is laughable. Maybe in the immediate area surrounding DW but to the rest of the country there is a huge difference. Disney is the largest entertainment company in the world and one of the highest regarded as far as customer service. Non of my fellow CPs or myself has ever had Disney not come up in job interviews. It is always a topic of conversation in those interviews and it’s usually always questions about customer service and specifically about training programs we went through. Companies spend huge sums of money to send their employees to the Disney Institute and these are very similar to programs you are exposed to.

People I knew worked for Disney for the experience and a chance to live in Florida, NEVER for the money.

 

[Lilofan]

Thank you! It's difficult to be, but I have faith I'll return to Orlando soon. At least I hope!

Once Florida's curve starts to flatten, maybe Disney will begin contacting CPs. They did have us fill out a survey, but that might have been to just reassure us all at the time, lol.

With all the cast on furlough after April 18, including salaried staff, they are not being paid by WDW soon to apply for unemployment. They have no obligation to work for free. I read essential staff is working. CP program staff are not considered essential. That does even include any potential layoffs down the road. Many companies are not only furloughing their employees but also laying off.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Thank you for this perspective. I am not in any way trying to sound confrontational, I'm simply curious- did you ever do the DCP?

My plan was to do DCP, transfer to FT after, hopefully become a Trainer or even a relief Coordnator, have Disney pay for my tuition through Aspire, and apply for Disney's Professional Internships all the while I get my Bachelors. Hopefully by then I could get a higher position. I honestly loved working there for the time that I did and my leaders were all great and wanted us to succeed. I don't think my job as QSFB was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life but I did enjoy it, and it wouldn't be a bad job during my college years.

I know a few people who did the DCP, then a professional internship and that led to a good full-time job within the company. And I know a lot of people who got chewed up, spit out and were very bitter about the experience. It’s possible but there is a lot of competition that have college degrees and the same dreams. Good luck

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

With all the cast on furlough after April 18, including salaried staff, they are not being paid by WDW soon to apply for unemployment. They have no obligation to work for free. I read essential staff is working. CP program staff are not considered essential. That does even include any potential layoffs down the road. Many companies are not only furloughing their employees but also laying off.

Non-union and salaried cast members are being furloughed. Cast members that have a role covered by the union are not, at this point, being furloughed. There will be announcements by the end of the week.

 

[Lilofan]

Non-union and salaried cast members are being furloughed. Cast members that have a role covered by the union are not, at this point, being furloughed. There will be announcements by the end of the week.

Pretty much the writing is on the wall, not how but just when..

 

[WDW862]

Now I’m stuck with absolutely nothing and no option to push my dates to August. So now I guess I have to wait to apply for the spring program which starts in January.

You're going to be competing with all of the CP's who were just fired. Good luck.

 

[WDW862]

Pretty much the writing is on the wall, not how but just when..

Most CM's I know want to be furloughed. That extra 600 a week from the federal government provides more money than Disney.

 

[marni1971]

Expect more news very soon.

 

[davis_unoxx]

Expect more news very soon.

Im guessing with the fall program being cancelled as well?

 

[WDW862]

Martin just struck fear into thousands of cast members

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Most CM's I know want to be furloughed. That extra 600 a week from the federal government provides more money than Disney.

Not the ones I know. But different departments and seniorities will see things differently I’m sure.

 

[WDW862]

Not the ones I know. But different departments and seniorities will see things differently I’m sure.

I'm talking about the front-line ones making $13 an hour.

 

[wdwmagic]

Im guessing with the fall program being cancelled as well?

Should be details this week on what the plans are for the entire cast.

 

[monykalyn]

My program was just cancelled. I've had my senior year, my graduation, and now this. I've lost everything.

I feel you. I’m about ready to purge everything Disney from my life, which is going to be difficult.

I’m so sorry for both of you- and all the DCP who were so excited to get that acceptance! Grieve however you want, don’t let anyone EVER tell you you don’t have the right to feel how you feel or belittle your feelings by telling you how things could be worse and to be grateful for what you have. You are feeling a real loss whether others acknowledge that or not. My oldest lost her senior college year too. And my middle kid a high school senior lost every fun part of being a senior- prom, graduation day, all the senior week fun things etc. I hope things work out for you both and somehow you are able to experience the DCP.

No I personally did not.

The on campus presentations are no different than a sleazy Hollywood agent telling random kids that he's going to make them a Hollywood star

Sounds like sour grapes here- if you haven’t done the program you actually have ZERO-ZERO! idea of what happens or how hard the kids work. Let me repeat- ZERO. Both my husband and I did a DCP back in the 90’s and our oldest has done two- Accepted for her third this fall but she got a great opportunity for grad school that she doing instead. And they haven’t done campus presentations in a long time. It’s a very challenging customer service job - I’ve worked theme parks, amusement parks and retail while in high school and college. Working with the public - especially entitled DW guests- is not easy, and a valuable people skill that WILL carry with them.

To my mind, the prestige of the DCP (assuming there is any) is the "elite" nature of being selected out of the masses who apply. That can help an otherwise "also ran" resumé.

Non of my fellow CPs or myself has ever had Disney not come up in job interviews

I agree. Again those who dismiss obviously don’t have that on their resume. Pretty sure my daughter got an internship in her field last summer due to the DCP (her mentor even said something about it during her internship) - and her DCPs were custodial and Attractions, her field of study is Geology. Early in my career it also came up with every interview (we moved an average 3-5 years up until this house we e been in for 10 years- yes I’m old lol)

 

[danitaytay]

I’m so sorry for both of you- and all the DCP who were so excited to get that acceptance! Grieve however you want, don’t let anyone EVER tell you you don’t have the right to feel how you feel or belittle your feelings by telling you how things could be worse and to be grateful for what you have. You are feeling a real loss whether others acknowledge that or not. My oldest lost her senior college year too. And my middle kid a high school senior lost every fun part of being a senior- prom, graduation day, all the senior week fun things etc. I hope things work out for you both and somehow you are able to experience the DCP.

Sounds like sour grapes here- if you haven’t done the program you actually have ZERO-ZERO! idea of what happens or how hard the kids work. Let me repeat- ZERO. Both my husband and I did a DCP back in the 90’s and our oldest has done two- Accepted for her third this fall but she got a great opportunity for grad school that she doing instead. And they haven’t done campus presentations in a long time. It’s a very challenging customer service job - I’ve worked theme parks, amusement parks and retail while in high school and college. Working with the public - especially entitled DW guests- is not easy, and a valuable people skill that WILL carry with them.

I agree. Again those who dismiss obviously don’t have that on their resume. Pretty sure my daughter got an internship in her field last summer due to the DCP (her mentor even said something about it during her internship) - and her DCPs were custodial and Attractions, her field of study is Geology. Early in my career it also came up with every interview (we moved an average 3-5 years up until this house we e been in for 10 years- yes I’m old lol)

Thank you so much for your kind words. And I am so sorry to hear about your kids and what they've lost as well. This is just such an unfair time for us all. I hope all of our schools do the appropriate thing and give us the graduation ceremony and your middle child their prom and other events at a later date (hopefully this summer) if things begin to clear up.

 

[Lilofan]

Should be details this week on what the plans are for the entire cast.

Agreed. The unions and Disney still hashing out all things furlough/layoff related , what is going to happen the union cast after April 18, and probably how many and who come back when Disney slowly reopens.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I agree 100% the college program was an incredible experience for me and I was doing quick service food. You’re position does not hold you down from learning. Being fully immersed in this fully functioning city, known as Disney World, is an incredible opportunity. To me the logistics of everything was always mind blowing. It’s very easy to meet people and network with people from around the world if you put yourself out there. I attended seminars with each park VP and other executives throughout my program. I decided not to stay on after for personal reasons but a few of my roommates did, two of which have moved up very high in the company today. Others stayed for a few years and eventually moved onto other careers. Every story is different and I know both extreme cases are out there. I have other friends that hated it. Some of them went down with pixie dust in their eyes having never worked a day in their lives and couldn’t adjust. Others went down thinking it was going to be just one big party.

I will say getting lucky with a good group of roommates makes a huge difference. When you pick how many roommates to live with I would recommend staying in the larger rooms that hold 4-8 roommates. That way you have better odds of clicking with at least few of them. I know a lot of people say it is what you make of it and that is absolutely true. But there is a little luck as well. Between roommates and being placed in a a job with some great coworkers can make all of the difference. Even if your job is mundane it can still be extremely enjoyable and there all always learning opportunities. If nothing else you make life long friends. I was a CP almost 20 years ago and I’m still close with many of my fellow CMs. For those of you that had your fall program canceled, that’s heart breaking. I feel terrible for all of you. However, if you still have the opportunity to participate in the future definitely go for it.

I was also Quick Service Food! Stands east, Magic Kingdom! The majority of the people I worked with were the full length CP program (except during the day shift it was a good mix).

I dreamed of doing an attraction, but my food background was a perfect fit. Honestly it was the best summer of my life. As I was an ICP we only got 2.5 months. But to work in MK, make magic everyday... it was a literal dream.

One of these days I should share the story of my magical last shift at Magic Kingdom.

 

[Lilofan]

Most CM's I know want to be furloughed. That extra 600 a week from the federal government provides more money than Disney.

A CM making $12 per hour that is furloughed would make say $200 per week unemployment , $600 per week stimulus money and also a one-time stimulus check for $1K and some doing side jobs cash under the table while furloughed. Sounds like a sweet deal.

 

[Kman101]

It is the perception that CPs steal full timers hours. It's the Disney bean counters that staff and schedule the cast accordingly.

OK. You don't really know how scheduling works do you?

 

[Lilofan]

OK. You don't really know how scheduling works do you?

Based on others feedback on the forum, cast are scheduled to work, also cast have the opportunity to sign up for available shifts that open up. Any other tidbits you choose to share?